Coca-Cola Fortune
So, as you may or may not know, an ancestor of mine, John Stith Pemberton (not quite sure how he's related, but that's not important), invented the recipe for Coca-Cola. This is a neat little anecdote, interesting to tell at parties and such. Inevitably, however, someone asks "If your ancestor invented Coke, how come you're not rich?" Well, turns out that he sold it for a only a few hundred bucks. Being not-rich because of this, I've always resented his lack of business acumen a bit.
However, the other night we were watching Antiques Roadshow and this guy brought on a picture of his great-grandfather (or was it great-great?), Asa Candler, and explained that this ancestor of his was the founder of the Coca-Cola Company. The picture turned out to be worth only a couple hundred bucks. But he got the same question I always do "If your ancestor founded Coke, how come you're not rich?" Well, turns out that great-grandpa Coke was a philanthropist, and gave away the fortune.
So, turns out that I don't have to be as bitter about my ancestor's lack of business acumen. No one ended up rich from Coke, after all (except, probably, the other shareholders in the corporation, but nevermind that). Huzzah!
5 comments:
Bah, giving away money? What a sucker.
What I want to know, though, is who invented the recipe for Surge. Now that's a person I want to meet!
Yes, Adam, once youmeet the Surge inventor, all you'll need is a soda factory (and other soda flavor recipes) and Surge 2.0 can be your little pet project on the side.
As for Jake, you not only not have to envy anyone, but you get to feel warm and fuzzy inside that maybe the money made from your great-grandpa's recipe might have gone to a good cause or two.
Eh, it probably went to Confederate war widows or some such garbage.
Confederate war widows need love, too. However,christi's right at least the family recipe's intial major earnings went to help people. And yes, HUZZAH!
Actually, Confederate war widows don't need love anymore, since they're all dead.
...
Oh, you didn't mean *that* kind of love, did you? My mistake.
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